Our Structure

Cancer is a major strategic area of UCLH and UCL with a focus on clinical research and early phase clinical trials. There is excellent infrastructure allowing clinical trials to be linked with basic science, facilitating targeting of specific molecular abnormalities in cancers with therapeutics and developing novel immunotherapies. 

Late phase cancer trials are hosted by the Cancer Clinical Trials Unit (CCTU) and early phase clinical trials are hosted by the consolidation and centralisation of cancer research within the UCLH/UCL axis provides a unique opportunity to link basic science and clinical research with patient care in an outstanding environment.

UCLH NIHR Clinical Research Facility (CRF)

The NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility (CRF) opened in February 2009, in the heart of Bloomsbury. It is a partnership between University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust. The mission of NIHR UCLH CRF is to facilitate the translation of basic science knowledge into improved methods of patient care through new diagnostics and therapies. The facility provides a co-ordinated infrastructure to assist clinical investigators, in particular those with externally funded, peer reviewed research proposals, and to conduct clinical research safely, efficiently and cost-effectively.

The facility is funded principally by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and the Cancer programme is also supported by Cancer Research UK through the UCL Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) and the UCL/ UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.  It has a remit to progress high quality clinical research in any domain but with a specific focus on early-phase clinical trials and experimental medicine.

Early phase Cancer trials are located within the UCLH Clinical Research Facility located at 170 Tottenham Court Road. This is a purpose-built environment for patients taking part in complex Phase I/II clinical trials  Principal Investigators and patients are supported within this highly regulated and safe clinical environment within which first-in-human and other experimental trials can be delivered. 

More information regarding the UCLH CRF and how it is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) cancer theme can be found on the NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility website.

Cancer Research UK UCL Centre (CRUK UCL Centre)

The Cancer Research UK UCL Centre (CRUK UCL Centre) is part of a national network of 13 research centres funded by Cancer Research UK dedicated to delivering world-leading cancer research, improved care for cancer patients and greater local engagement.

The Cancer Clinical Trials Unit at UCLH supports clinical trials across all areas of cancer treatment and facilitate later phase trials as well as certain early phase trials that are not suitable for the CRF environment. 

The Centre creates a virtual focal point for cancer research at UCL, bringing together researchers and clinicians from UCL and its partner hospital trusts to accelerate cancer research discoveries. The centre focuses primarily on strengthening existing areas of clinical and academic excellence in cancer research at UCL, such as lung cancer, haematological malignancies, prostate cancer and cancer immunotherapies, to enable world-leading contributions in precision cancer medicine. However, the centre continues research into selected rare cancers and cancers of unmet need, including brain cancers and sarcomas.

More information can be found on the CRUK UCL Centre website.

UCLH Cancer Trials Unit (CCTU)

The Cancer Clinical Trials Unit at UCLH supports clinical trials across all areas of cancer treatment. Located within the main building of UCLH, they facilitate an array of clinical trials, include later phase trials with a dedicated team of consultants, specialist registrars, research nurses and clinical trial practitioners.

More information regarding the CCTU, the type of cancer clinical trials they run and a list of their current open clinical trials can be found on the UCLH Cancer Clinical Trials website.

Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)

The Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) Network is a unique UK-wide initiative jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and the Health Departments providing infrastructure support and bringing together world-leading scientists and clinicians to drive the discovery, development and testing of new anti-cancer treatments for patients.

The University College London (UCL) ECMC supports a dedicated a dedicated Clinical Research Facility (CRF) based at UCLH and provides key infrastructure for laboratories including the GCLP facility and molecular pathology laboratories which support translational cancer research both at UCL and throughout the Network.

More information on the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre at UCL can be found on the UCL ECMC webpage. Additional information on the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Network can be found on the UK wide ECMC Network website.